Ghost Adventures-The Lost Episode: Gorey House
by GhostAdventuresfan09
Summary: The Ghost Adventures Crew investigates an historic mansion that casts a shadow of terror and superstition over the town locals. Some say that anyone who stays there are never seen again. Will this prove to be the case for our band of renowned paranormal investigators? Inspired by Choose Your Own Ghost Adventure: Gorey House by Ghost Bait (coriolana) on Archive of Our Own. R & R
1. Prologue

"Okay, I'm rolling right now."

As I fiddle with my camcorder for a self-shot in night vision, settling down in my bed.

"First, let me just say that what you're about to experience is by far one of the most intense investigations I've _ever_ encountered."

Scoffing a moment, licking my lips as I try to maintain composure.

"Honestly, it was so intense…we tried to beg the network to pull it off before it could air on live television. But after we realized we couldn't pull it…the guys and I decided to go ahead and give out this heartfelt warning."

I pause,

"Keep in mind, this location is not something to be messed with. It'll (bleep) with your head if you let it."

"This is the raw, gritty encounter with…the mansion rumored to be infested with dark inhuman entities."

My eyes reflect the green IR light back into the lens, wanting to send a warning to the faint of heart.

"Watch at your own risk."

I click off my camera, ending my testimonial.


	2. The Call

It's Friday night, and I'm settling onto my hotel bed with a fizzy beverage to watch my favorite show: Ghost Adventures.

I just came back to my hotel room from a much-needed vacation when...

 _Bzzzzzt, Bzzzzzt_

Sounds from my phone on the nightstand.  
Puzzled, I look in surprise at the screen—all my friends know that Friday night is Ghost Adventures night'

 _Who's calling me? 702 area code…_

I don't recognize the number, but decide I might as well answer, since there are still ten minutes before the new episode starts.

Zak is calling on the other end from the GAC office in Las Vegas. Letting me know of the next location, the Gorey House in Royalsburg, Kentucky. The airline tickets are emailed to me, look up the address and it's a few hours drive but thankfully the flight would be shorter. I close my phone and stare at the TV screen as one of our reruns was on, making me reminisce over how things have changed now that I have become their newest member.

What most of our fans don't know is I've always believed in ghosts ever since I heard a disembodied male voice when I was six years old, and I've been a fan of Ghost Adventures ever since I watched the guys investigate on the Poveglia Island episode. I kept tabs on the guys' adventures especially after I left home to make my own life and vowed to combat the haunting sorrows of my past experiences. I studied hard to become a film student and when the chance came to compete for a lockdown with Zak, Nick and Aaron in a contest, I took a shot at it and after months of grueling anticipation, they announced my name as the winner and had the privilege of joining them at the Halden Mansion two years ago.

Now I can hear it already, how thousands of fangirls are jealous that I'm in close proximity to Zak on a regular basis, but the truth is my favorite guy on the GAC is Nick—he's always been an inspiration to me. His positive outlook on life to overcome the negativity was a major influence to cope with the Post Traumatic Stress and social anxiety I dealt with after leaving the animosity of my home. I don't share this to bore anyone, it's what I had to do and that's why I'm particularly sensitive to the supernatural. I can sense changes in energy like my body is warning me of imminent danger. So after a devastating dark possession on Nick at the Bartonville Insane Asylum and other personal matters that required my full attention, I had to take a leave of absence for a couple years. Now, I returned to the crew, fully knowledged about video production and a more seasoned paranormal investigator.

I spent the rest of the night searching for information on the location I'll be investigating, the Gorey house—after I watch tonight's new episode, of course about the Return to Linda Vista Hospital. Surprisingly little has been written about the Gorey House; I resolve to find out as much as I can once you get into town. Hearing Zak's voice narrating the show, it reminds me of what I have experienced with them in previous cases and seeing Nick again makes me smile, nostalgic to see an old friend again. As always, as I'm watching it, as the evidence is just compelling on air as it is to actually experience in real time. Of course, most people think we're faking it to get ratings, but that couldn't farther from the truth. What you see is just the highlights of hours and hours of footage we worked so hard to condense into a 44-minute show to leave room for the commercials, which pays for the shows by the way. Any evidence the audience sees and hears is what we got, and we love the experience of knowing people can relate with us.

The episode ends with the usual credits and fades to black-leading to an episode of Bizarre Foods, but I had enough of television after my fill of Ghost Adventures so I clicked the television off.

 _Bzzzzzt, Bzzzzzt_

My phone buzzes once more, this time Nick texted me.

 _Hey, Aura. How was your vacation?_

Typing a reply and clicking Send,

 _Great, did Zak tell you about the Gorey House? It's our next location._

 _Yeah, we're going next week. Ready to go back to work?_

 _You bet._

 _Are we driving you crazy yet?_ He joked.

 _No way! You guys are awesome._

 _Ha-ha. Good to hear, get some sleep._

 _Yeah, you too. See you in Kentucky._

Smiling at my phone screen, I still get blush faced whenever I talk with Nick. Always caring about my well-being, just as a good friend always does.

Setting my phone down and do my evening routine, I'm ready for a deep slumber. As I cradle myself in the soft warm bed, I wonder what adventure awaits now.


	3. The Adventures begins

The day before I was supposed to catch my flight to the lockdown, I check the weather report. Unseasonable snows have closed the airport I was supposed to fly into, and it might not re-open in time. I'm close enough that if I could drive all night, I would probably get to the lockdown location, although I'd be really tired. Do I cross my fingers and hope my flight's on time, or drive through the night?

 _I'm not taking even the slightest chance of missing out on this lockdown!_

I load up my car with energy drinks and beef jerky and drive through the night. I make great time, and end up arriving in town earlier than I expected, several hours before I would have arrived on the plane.

As I drive through town, I notice a small museum. It might have information about the house where our lockdown will take place.

The museum is a brick one-story building that looks like it could have been a dollar store in another life. The glass doors are dusty, and the inside smells dusty; yellowing fluorescent lights overhead shine down on a few grimy-looking glass cases and a half-dozen tall bookcases. I peer inside; old photographs and tools are displayed, along with faded typed labels.

I'm about to leave, when a young man comes around the corner of one of the glass cases and looks startled to find me. He introduces himself as the volunteer curator, and then asks if he can help me.

"I'm interested in any information you have about the history of the Gorey house," I politely speak.

He scratches his chin. "I don't know much about that place," he admits. "I'll see if there's anything in our collection."

He goes to fetch his laptop, and almost bumps into an old man coming out of the bookcases. The old man ignores the volunteer curator's apology, instead staring at me as he walks to the door. I shiver at the old man's piercing eyes, and are glad when he leaves.

The volunteer curator returns with his laptop, but all he can find are a few articles about the Gorey family that don't sound very interesting.

"I'm sorry," he apologizes. "We're just starting to digitize the old newspapers."

I thank him anyway, and decide to head to the hotel. As I'm walking back to my car, though, the old man from the museum catches my arm.

"What do you want with the old Gorey house?" he demands.

I decide it can't hurt to talk to the old guy.

"I'm supposed to stay there overnight," I tell him then he immediately starts shaking his head.

"What a terrible idea," he says. "Don't you know that place is cursed? You won't make it half the night!"

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Everyone who stays there—dies!"

I wonder if the old man is just being dramatic, and he seems to sense my skepticism.

"You'll see, youngster," he snaps.

"That house was built by devil worshippers! They say the devil himself walks through the place at night, and whenever he sees a soul for snatching, he grabs it!"

I back away slowly, not wanting to be late as the man shakes his fist, telling wilder and wilder stories of what will happen to us, until I get to my car. Once I'm inside, I shake my head and take it with a grain of salt except . . . he really seemed to believe what he was saying. And I've seen what happened to the Ghost Adventures Crew when they tangled with demons.

 _Do I really want to go on this lockdown?_

It weighs on my mind until I grab the jingling oval medal of Saint Michael the Archangel on my keys. If there are sinister forces at work, I have a protector.

 _Maybe we'll catch decent evidence, something that may not be so malevolent and disprove these hellish rumors._

Pulling up to the hotel, I check in and hear a familiar voice. It's Billy and Jay is on the phone, Billy explains that the GAC were supposed to be here but their flight was delayed until the snowstorm passes so hopefully they'll be there by late tonight. In the meantime, Zak recommended that the three of us go out into town to look for people to interview. I'm game to chill with Billy and Jay and after dropping off my luggage in my hotel room, Billy and Jay hop in a van and head out.


	4. The Mysterious Lore

Billy, Jay and I have a great time wandering around the small town, gathering footage of the streetscape, checking out the sights, and goofing off. The only strange thing is that no one we meet will admit knowing anything about Gorey House.

After four hours of videotaping, wandering, and talking, we stop in a gas station to grab sodas. As Billy has with everyone we meet, he asks the attendant if she knows anything about the Gorey House. She gets a nervous look in her eyes, but shakes her head no.

"Okay, we've done our job," Billy announces. "Let's hit up that fudge shop we saw on the way back to the hotel."

I look from Billy to the attendant. She won't meet my eyes, and start to feel a hunch.

"Sounds good," I say. "I'll catch up with you guys in a minute."

I wait for them to leave the store, and then turn to the attendant. She looks at me,  
The woman touches a cross necklace that I didn't notice before.

"What do you want with that place?" she asks.

"I'm going to stay there overnight," I explain. She starts shaking her head halfway through your explanation.

"Don't do it," she says.

"Why?" I ask.

"Just don't do it," she insists. I must have looked skeptical because she looked around, and then leaned close to me.

"That house is cursed," she says. "People disappear there all the time. They say demons come out of the walls at night."

What she says sounds crazy, but her expression is completely serious. She opens her mouth as if to say more, but the door to the store opens. She leans away from me quickly and starts to talk cheerfully to the man who has just walked in. We leave, sensing she won't tell us anything more.

In the sunlight on the sidewalk, her story seems unbelievable, but I remember how insistent she seemed. _Demons come out of the walls._ This is more than just ghosts.

I think about what the attendant said and walk slowly down the sidewalk. Demons are scary stuff . . . but the crew has faced them before. Besides, if it gets too crazy, I can leave—Billy reassured me of that when I talked to him earlier.

I square my shoulders, my decision made.

 _Demons or not, we're going on this lockdown._

I quickly catch up to Billy and Jay at the fudge shop and snag some sugar-free treats before heading back. I don't want to get left behind—and besides, that fudge looked good. When we get back to the fudge shop, it tastes as good as it looked. Billy, Jay and I get our sugar buzz on and laugh like kids all the way back to the hotel.

Once there, the three of us chow on some dinner at the hotel's bistro and chat through the night. But I grow more fatigued as the night wore on since when I drove here, I retire to my hotel room and get a text from Billy that the guys are here. And as much as I would love to talk to my friends, I assure myself that I'll see them in the morning to be in top shape for the lockdown…especially if it is as active as rumors claims it is.


	5. The Hotel meeting

As I awake and stretch in the morning glow of the sun, I decide to head down to the lobby for my complimentary hotel breakfast. I hope the guys are down there—or even if they'll be awake yet. As I walk down the stairs in soft cozy slippers, I see an array of breakfast foods including a waffle maker. As I finish baking a waffle and place it beside my bacon and scrambled eggs, I just finished pouring maple syrup when I see a familiar face clickty-clacking on a laptop. Nick is sitting in the lobby with a cup of tea, sipping it as the steam swirls upwards.

Smiling, I decide to sleekly reunite with my prized friend. "Well, I bet that's a nice way to stay warm in this cool weather."

His ears perk up and see my face, smiling back.

"Hey, how's it going?"

We shake hands and sit down at his table; we talk for a few minutes about our journeys to get here and what's been going on in our lives. Nick seems nice, but distracted; as I mention the little I've learned about the house, Nick gets a text. He let me finish before excusing himself to make a phone call. I try not to listen in, but overhear bits and pieces of the conversation—something's made him upset.

When he returns to the table, he asks me if I'd like to come with him to wake up Zak and Aaron, maybe learn more about the audio/video equipment we'll be using with Billy and Jay. I decide to join in on a prank to wake them; knowing Billy and Jay are setting up equipment.  
Excited to make our own GAC prank, I wait for Nick to pack up his laptop, and then head to the elevator together. He checks his phone again while we're riding up, and makes a face at what he reads. Not wanting to snoop, I decide to leave him be when the elevator doors open. We film it on your phones, reminding me of the Cookie Man vlog.

"Zak and I stay on this side, and Aaron's over there," Nick says. "He snores like a chainsaw."

I laugh and follow him as he knocks on a door, and dash behind a wall nearby. Barely noticing us behind the wall, Zak's annoyed as usual cause we both disturbed his morning hair routine. Aaron falls for the knock and dash, baffled that someone could knock then disappear causing a rush of snickers and quiet high fives between us.

As Aaron and Zak come down the lobby for coffee and breakfast, Nick leads me to a room on the first floor where Billy and Jay are surrounded by cables and batteries. As Billy and Jay show you the various pieces of equipment the crew uses on the show, I recognize a great deal of them from voice recorders to infrared cameras. But there's some newer equipment in our arsenal.

I'm quickly reminded how much work goes into putting together an episode—when they tell me how many hours of audio and video they go through, looking for evidence, my jaw drops. I help them match charged batteries to cameras, and they begin talking about the rumors they've heard about the house.

"I heard there have been at least three documented disappearances connected to the house," Billy says.

"Plus two murders," Jay adds. I mention how hard it was for me to find any information about the house.

"I guess not too many people survived to talk about what they saw," Billy jokes.

"I'm glad I'm not going in there," Jay says under his breath, then looks at me guiltily. I laugh nervously.

"It's cool," Billy reassures me. "We'll watch out for you from the command post."

Somehow, I don't find that totally reassuring . . .

Before the conversation can get any more awkward, there's a knock at the door. It's time for a crew meeting.

We head to the lobby, paying attention when Zak turns to us. The crew is splitting up: Zak, Nick, Aaron and myself are headed to the Gorey House to do a walkthrough and interview the homeowners. Billy and Jay will go out and get B roll shots for the show to cut through. The guys and I head across town while Billy and Jay venture off.

The four of us pile into the white van with the GAC insignia on the window, Nick drives while the three of us goof off to various music on their iPhone playlists as the ride takes time, maybe I can shoot some ridiculous Aaron's vlogs while we're at it.


	6. Introducing the Gorey House

Gorey House is a turn-of-the-century mansion. It stands at the edge of town, on a rise that overlooks the small river that runs through the town. Peeling white paint flutters in the wind; no trees stand around it. One side of the house is covered in Tyvek wrap, and a pile of old boards sits in the yard.

Standing on the sidewalk, shivering, are a man and a woman wearing fleece jackets. We pull up and introduce ourselves to the couple, which turns out to be the owners of Gorey House. They lead us up the steps and inside.

The house's builder was a wealthy man, we learn, but soon after he finished the house he went insane. From the twenties to the fifties, the house was divided into small rooms and operated as a boarding house for various less-than-reputable people. After a bad fire, the house was abandoned for almost ten years. It's rumored that devil worshippers used the house for rituals in the 1970s and buried bodies in the basement. Another couple bought the house and restored some of the house to its turn-of-the-century glamour in the 1980s, but the couple went missing a year after buying the house, and the house went through several absentee owners before the current owners bought it at a foreclosure sale.

They've tried to renovate, but they've had various unsettling experiences: objects moving overnight, things falling on them, a sense of being watched. While Zak is interviewing the homeowners in the front parlor, we all hear a loud bang coming from the back of the house. Zak and Nick head into the back of the house to investigate, while Aaron stays with the homeowners. Do I follow Nick and Zak, or stay with Aaron?

I follow Zak and Nick and find a board lying on the floor amid disturbed dust. It might have been knocked over, or it might have just fallen. Zak pulls out a digital recorder to do an on-the-spot EVP session and asks the spirit that knocked the board over to introduce itself.  
Nothing happens for several minutes; then, just as everyone is looking at each other, ready to leave, a wave of cold settles over the room. I get a definite sense that we're supposed to leave. Do I return to the front parlor or stay to talk to the spirits?

We're not about to run away from the possibility of interacting with a ghost! I decide to add my own questions: "Do you want us to be here?" and "Why are you still here?"

After a few minutes of waiting, Zak replays the tape. Staticky voices seem to answer "no" and "trapped." Nick grabs his shoulder camera to make a rack focus shot, we all agree that there's something here even during the day and head back to check on Aaron.

As Zak, Nick and I poke around, Aaron asks the homeowners if weird noises are common, and they say yes. Aaron asks them why they haven't left, and they say they've sunk too much money into the house. While Aaron is talking, he thought he saw a shadow the size of a cat dart past the doorway. He blinked, not sure if he's seeing things.

"Do you have a cat?" He asked.

The homeowners look at each other, then him, shaking their heads. "No, why?" the wife asks.  
"I thought I saw a cat in the doorway there. Are you sure you don't have a cat?"  
Before they could answer as we walk back through the hallway, a paint can falls and almost hits him on the head. Everyone comes running at the sound as he shouted. The spilled red paint looks like blood on the floor.

While the guys investigate to see if there's a natural explanation, you heft the paint can. It's heavy enough to have seriously hurt someone. The owners claim that they didn't leave the paint can on the stairs.

Zak and Nick gaze with me in shock.

"We should put an X-camera here," Aaron tells them, and I explain what we saw.

Aaron marks the floor, and I borrow some tape from him to make my own X after explaining what we three found upstairs, once placed we all continue the investigation.  
The homeowners show us through the rest of the house. It's a mix of finished and unfinished rooms; in some places, we can see through to the joists, while others look ready for furniture.

The homeowners have seen shadow figures and heard voices in the bedrooms. Zak pokes his head into the attic, where the husband says he heard an unearthly growl. When we return to the first floor, the wife refuses to go in the basement—she says she's been pushed on the steps.  
When we descend the steps, I find a packed dirt floor that looks lumpy. The husband points out a series of scratches on one brick wall: he's nicknamed them the devil scratches, and he laughs, but we can tell he doesn't laugh when he's down here alone.

When we step outside again, Zak and Nick reassure the homeowners that they'll do the best they can to find answers to the mystery of Gorey house. After they leave, Zak checks in by phone with Billy and Jay, and asks whether I want to come with them to dinner or go back to the hotel for a nap. It was a long drive to the location, and I am feeling tired. I decide to get some rest so that I can be as sharp as possible when night falls. I fall asleep quickly, but half an hour into my nap, I'm awakened by a loud voice in the hall.

I open the door to tell the guy in the hall to be quiet, but it turns out to be Nick, on the phone. It sounds like trouble. Do I step into the hall and ask Nick what's wrong, or close the door and pretend that nothing's happening?

I step into the hall. Nick turns around at the sound of my door closing.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"I'm fine," Nick says quickly. He doesn't look fine.

"Is there anything wrong?" I ask. Nick shakes his head.

"Nothing," he says, but he's clearly upset. "See you at the lockdown."

He steps into his room and closes the door. I wonder whether or not to tell someone, but ultimately, I don't. He's fine, right?

I close my door quietly and lay down again, but I can't fall asleep. I stare at the dark ceiling and worry about Nick until it's time for the lockdown that next dusk. Gathering my things, I meet the guys in the lobby, pumped and ready to drive out together. We scurry to help them pack up their gear. Soon, we're piling into the van for the ride to Gorey House.


	7. Lockdown Time

Watching the sun sink toward the horizon, Gorey House looks perfectly spooky in the reddish light of the sunset. I help carry the equipment cases inside, then Jay wires me for sound with a lavaliere microphone and gives me a quick tutorial on camera etiquette. We're about to be locked in a haunted house with the GAC.

I help them spread out to set up the equipment, then wave goodbye to Billy and Jay as the homeowners shut the door and lock us in. While the guys double-check their camera batteries, I feel the hair on my arms standing on end—then a sharp pinch on my side. I yelp just as Billy radios in that my audio has gone dead. There's a red mark where I felt the pinch, and when we check the batteries on my audio pack, they're completely dead—drained. No one else has felt anything. I'm a little unnerved at being the only one targeted.

"Do you want to sit this one out?" Zak asks.

The sun's barely down, and the ghosts are already draining batteries—this is gonna be awesome!

I'm just getting started, no way am I backing out now. I get a new battery pack for my audio and help the guys set up the equipment. Zak calls off the static X cameras to remind the crew of the hotspots.

Finally, the lights go out. The window shades have been closed, and it's very dark inside the house. The tiny night-vision camera screen is barely enough to let us move around, and the darkness around me seems full of menacing shapes. The guys set up an EM pump in the living room and conduct a spirit box session, but don't get anything for 45 minutes.

"I think we should split up," Nick says.

The guys decide that someone should go to the basement where the mysterious scratches were, someone to the attic where the growl was heard, someone to the second floor where mysterious shadow figures were seen and voices heard, and someone should stay in the living room with the EM pump.

I sit down nervously in the living room, which has a couch and a coffee table; it's one of the few rooms in the house that doesn't look too torn up. Thumps and footsteps come from all over the house as the guys spread out. I really wish that I could have stuck close to at least one other person—now that I was alone, the house feels extra creepy.

I pan your night vision camera across the living room, trying to get used to seeing the world in shades of green and black. The LED on the top of the EM pump is the only source of light in the room.

I'm not sensing anything present in the living room, so I decide to go and check out the rest of the first floor. The house is big and old—it has a living room, a parlor with a dusty fireplace, a dining room with faded, torn wallpaper, and a large kitchen at the back of the house. It even has a second set of narrow stairs for the servants who must have once worked in this house. A modern addition leads from the kitchen to a garage. I think I remember someone saying they'd seen something in the garage, but I'm not sure.

I stick to the house—I don't even like my garage at home when it's dark. Here in the kitchen, no drapes or blinds don't cover the large windows, and a half-moon casts grey shadows on the floor. I notice a door that I didn't see during the walkthrough and try to open it. The handle turns and the door opens a fraction of an inch before it sticks.

It's probably just a broom closet and creaking this door could contaminate any audio so I leave it be. I return to the dining room, which is partly covered in wallpaper. The pattern catches my eye, and I get closer. It's an intricate, leafy design—very pretty, although it's in bad shape. Long strips dangle from the walls like tentacles, curling at the ends.  
I shake my head, but can't dispel the image I've imagined: as if the walls are reaching out for me with undulating arms.

The wallpaper is definitely getting on my nerves. I return to the living room and amuse myself for a while by using a golf ball to discover the places where the floor isn't level. When the guys return from their investigations on the other floor, I rejoin them.

I climb up the creaky stairs to the second floor with Nick, who helps me pull down the attic stairs. It's dusty in the attic, and I sneeze.

"Do you want a filter mask?" Nick asks. "I think we have one in the equipment cases."

I don't want a sneeze to obscure a great EVP. I head downstairs and find a filter mask easily. I also see a Mel meter, a newer version that I've never used before.

 _Maybe Nick could show me how to use it?_

Grabbing the filter mask and head back upstairs, using my night-vision screen to find my way. I fiddle with the Mel meter as I'm climbing the stairs. It seems even darker in the house than it was before. When I reach the second floor, it starts to alarm. Nick comes out of a room to see what's going on and I ask if I'm using it right.

He looks over my shoulder and says yes except those are some of the highest readings we've ever seen. I head up the stairs.

"Watch your step!" Nick calls after me.

When I get to the top of the steps, I can see what he means through my night vision screen: the attic is filled with piles of junk. I step carefully through the junk until I find a chair that looks ok and sit down. I sit quietly for a few minutes, getting used to the sounds of the room, and start to feel like there's something behind me.

I flip my camera screen around and turn it so that I can see what's behind me. A shadow moves and my heart races, but I shift my camera and realize it's caused by the IR light source. Even though the shadow is explainable, I feel like we're not alone in the attic.  
Nick joins me, standing beside you with a rolling digital recorder. We go through the attic, looking at broken chairs, ugly dressers, cardboard boxes.

He asks if anyone is with me, standing in front. After a moment, we hear a knock that sounds like it's coming from the wall.

Nick and I jump. He extends his arm in comfort gesture, assuring me to stay.

"Did you die in this house? One knock for no, two knocks for yes." Nick asked.

After a long, long silence, I hear two knocks.

"Were you murdered?" I asked then turn to Nick, as the energy in the room suddenly turns very dark.

"Do you feel that?" I asked as he nods in agreement.

"Are you evil?"

Nothing happens for several minutes.

"Maybe the knocks were just a coincidence," I spoke softly.

A loud growl comes from behind me and both of us yelp and back away at the same time. A loud BANG, BANG noise comes from one of the bedrooms on the second floor and both of us yell. Nick quickly moves toward the noise. Inside one of the bedrooms, I find a chair lying on its side on the ground. When I try setting it upright and knocking it down, the noise sounds a lot like what we heard before.

"What's going on?" Aaron asks, coming up from the first floor. We tell him about the loud growl that Nick and I heard, and Aaron calls Zak. Together, we all listen to the growl we recorded.

"Nice work." Zak says.

Aaron and Zak go investigate other locations while Nick and I some more since more activity's been happening around us. I asked, "Can you say your name?" while holding a digital recorder.

Nick and I stand quietly, but don't hear anything. The creepy feeling in the hall goes away, and Nick plays back the recorder. I hear my own voice asking "Can you say your name?" and there's a long silence, then I hear a voice that sounds like a woman:

" _Lavinia Beardsly_."

We play it back a couple more times, then Nick radios Billy to analyze the recording. We stand by his many monitors in the GAC van. Billy cues up the recording and plays it, we hear my voice then the raspy whispery voice.

All agree that they hear a voice, "That's a Class A EVP", Zak says, "definitely, we should look into that name."

"Whoa!" I exclaim. Nick gives me a high five. "That was some wicked activity!" And he smiles at my achievement; I feel a glow of pride.

I'm psyched to see what else this house has to offer…


	8. Lockdown Part 2

I climb the stairs with Nick, who's headed to the parlor. I must look nervous, because Nick pats my shoulder before he goes up into the hall.

"Don't worry," he says. "Me and Aaron will be right there if you need us."  
I thank him, a little embarrassed, and then he trots into the parlor. I'm all alone, with a hallway of closed doors to choose from.

I poke through the rooms. They're partially renovated—some have peeling paint or exposed walls, and others have wires dangling from the ceiling. Paint cans are piled in one room; another has a single chair sitting in the corner. The doors squeak and creak as I open them.  
The only room that's mostly intact is the bathroom. There's even toilet paper in the holder.  
Noting the bathroom's location for later, I walk back down the hall, and peer into another room with one chair. I feel as though I've been drawn to this room, and walk to the middle. As I turn around slowly, I notice that a hole has been knocked into one of the walls near the floor. I feel strangely drawn to the hole in the wall, as if there's a secret hiding inside.

I notice that the faceplate for an electrical outlet is sitting a few feet away from the hole, as if someone didn't finish installing it. I use your flashlight to take a better look at the hole, and see two electrical wires sticking out. I gingerly push them aside with the faceplate for the outlet, and then reach inside.

Sticky cobwebs brush my fingers, but I tough it out and my fingers touch a piece of stiff paper. I pull out a black-and-white photograph of a young man and woman in turn-of-the-century clothes, posing stiffly for the camera. I look around, wondering if I were drawn to the photo.

Sitting cross legged and set my voice recorder in front of me, next to the photograph.  
"Did you lead me to this photograph?" I ask. When I don't hear anything for a few minutes, I keep asking questions. "Are the people in this photograph haunting this house? Or did you know these people? Were you related?"

I look down at the photograph, and although my flashlight is off and the room is dark, I seem to be able to see it anyway. In fact, I seeing details now that I didn't see before; somehow, I can even tell that the photograph was taken just a few yards from this house, near a tree that was cut down to build the house across the street.  
I'm not ready to go poking in any of those dark doorways yet, so I pull out your voice recorder. I say my name and the location, and then pause. From the corner of my eye, I thought I saw something moving.

It's probably just a headlight outside, I tell myself as I move toward the doorway. But when I push open the door, I see that the only window in the room faces the hillside behind the house. I shiver and look for an animal or a shiny surface, but can't find any source for the shadow. I return to the place you were standing before and turn on my voice recorder again.

 _Nick wouldn't back down from this…_

I tell myself, and take a deep breath.

"Tell me your name," I say.

A cool draft seems to blow right on my neck, and shiver.

"Is that you?" I ask, and despite my good intentions, I think about retreating downstairs. I look up from my night vision screen and look at all the doorways surrounding me. All the doors are partly open, showing the dark rooms beyond. It occurs to me that they look like open graves, and I shiver violently.

"Screw this," I mutter, and decide to leave. But I'm reluctant to turn my back to all those doors.

I turn my back on the hallway and, even though my neck hairs feel like they're all on end, I walk slowly and carefully to the stairs, then down.

I hear Nick come down the staircase from the parlor and talk to me, and I feel like I'm only half-awake almost as though we're waking up from a dream. I hide the photograph in my pocket as a reflex, thinking I might go back later to do some EVP sessions with the photograph later in the night.

When we get to the first floor, I turn off my EVP recorder and shiver violently all over. I feel like I've walked out of a room full of cobwebs. I look around the front hall and into the living room and dining room, but don't see Nick. The EM pump is still set up on a coffee table in the living room.

I head to the back of the house, passing through the kitchen, to the garage. I can hear Aaron talking in a whisper and assume that Zak has come up out of the basement, but when I open the door, its just Aaron. He points his camera at me, and then waves.

"Hey," he says. "How's the second floor?"

"Creepy," I said.

"Yeah, me and—" Aaron turns and stops in mid-sentence, then turns back to me. "I swear I was just talking to the lady that owns the house . . ."

I help Aaron search the garage, but all the doors are securely closed, except the one I came through. Together, we review Aaron's camera. The video shows an empty space while Aaron talks—except for a dark blob that appears and disappears.

"I swear, the lady was right there," Aaron insists.

Aaron radios Billy, who meets us both at the front door. I pass him Aaron's camera, then Aaron checks the equipment bags for a spare. I hold the flashlight while he's looking.

Aaron and I split up and bring Nick and Zak to the garage, where we review the video together. Zak radios Billy to ask if he's seen anyone walking around the property, and the four of us search the inside of the house for any place a person might hide.

We return to the other rooms, using all our senses to be alert for messages from any spirits hiding in the house, but nothing happens. I return to the room with the chair and sit down to rest my tired feet. Before I know it, Nick is shaking me awake, smiling.

"You're the first person we've ever had fall asleep in a haunted house," he says.

I'm so glad that night vision doesn't show blushes as I follow Nick downstairs; we meet up with the others. When no one turns up anything, we decide to take a break.

As I go to answer nature's call, I remind them that I'll be right back. The toilet works. As I'm running water over my hands, I feel a prickling at the back of my neck and my stomach drops. I look up, into the old, foggy mirror, and see a ghostly figure standing behind me. When I meet its eyes, it reaches for me.

"DAHH! OH MY GOD!"

I screech at the top of my lungs, making the guys sprint upstairs. I tell them what I saw, reminding Nick of his experience at Linda Vita Hospital. Shaken, I describe what I just saw, repeat my story again on camera.

The guys believe me, Nick and Zak suggest I take it easy and calm down while they search the rooms. My heart is pounding a mile a minute and I can't catch my breath, feeling the fluids gushing through my airways. I wait patiently, but nothing happens until I hear the rest of the guys returning from their separate investigations on the other rooms. It sounds like not much has been happening elsewhere in the house either, so I rejoin them at base to munch an apple and down a bottle of water with the guys.


	9. Lockdown Part 3

I tread back through the dark and pull out my recorder in the living room and turn it on.

"Uh, hi," I hesitate to say. "Is anyone in this room with me? Can you come over and talk to me? Maybe sit on the couch next to me?"

I divide my attention between my night vision screen and the dark room around me. I quickly notice that I can see well in the dark if I let my eyes adjust without looking at the camera screen.

I'm not about to sit alone in the dark in a haunted house. I keep my eyes on the glowing night vision screen. I keep asking questions and waiting for answers, but despite all the scary stories I've heard about the house, nothing seems to be happening. Do I explore the rest of the first floor, or stay close to the EM pump?

With a quick look around to memorize the positions of the furniture, I decide to close the video screen. It's hard to see in the dark room, but at first, it's less creepy than looking through the video screen—which my instincts have been telling me will show me some spooky things.

I ask a few more questions with my recorder running, but I don't pick up anything with my own ears. My mind wanders to the thought of what this episode will look like when it's edited together—will I catch any evidence that will make it into the show? At this rate, I start to doubt it.

Creaking noises come from the hall—someone's walking on the boards. For a second, I'm excited, thinking that my chance has finally come, but a familiar bulky shape appears in the doorway.

"Hey, Aaron," I said.

"Hey," he says back.

"Come sit with me," I say. Aaron—who must have set his camera down in another room—crosses the room and sits down next to me, then leans forward and waves his hand over the EM pump. I laugh, embarrassed.

"Yeah, I did that too," I admit.

"It seems like you should be able to feel it, you know?" Aaron nods.

My eyes apparently haven't adjusted as well as I thought they had, because I can't see Aaron's face.

"Find anything upstairs?" I ask. Aaron shrugs. "Yeah, not much here, either," I say. "Does that ever happen? Stuff just doesn't happen?"

Aaron nods.

I start getting a weird feeling about this conversation.

I slowly turn the camera in Aaron's direction while trying to think of something to say. "So, uh, what's the craziest thing that's ever happened on a lockdown?" I ask. Aaron seems to be thinking for a moment, then, between one blink and the next, he's gone.

"Ho! WHAT THE F(bleep)!?"

I yell and throw myself sideways, off the couch. Nick and Aaron come running to find out what's the matter, and tell them what happened. When we review the tape later, I find that the dark shape that I thought was Aaron and all your responses were caught on the tape.

"Do you think I'll shoot something that'll end up on the show?" I ask Aaron.

"Yeah," he says.

"Cool," I say. "It'd be awesome if I got to be part of it."

"You already are." Nick retorted with smirk, teasing me. "What would we do without you, catching solid evidence like that?"

Smiling in a glow, my heart still throbbing from my doppelganger experience.

Resuming the investigation, I return to the second floor.

"Why do you haunt this house?" I ask, surprising myself—it wasn't the question I thought I was going to ask. I pan my night-vision camera across the hall, half-expecting to see a ghostly figure lurch out from one of the rooms.

"Are you waiting for justice?"

That wasn't the question I thought I was going to ask, either. I'm starting to get a very bad feeling about this floor.

Some of the doors on the second floor are open. I use your night-vision screen to look into each one, feeling more unsettled with each doorway. My eyes want to make monsters out of the shadows, and my heart is beating faster. A shape suddenly moves at the corner of my eye and I barely see the tall, slender frame.

"Nick?" I call out, no response. I go down the hall, kind of worried about him and wanting some company on this weird floor.

When I find Nick, I almost mistake him for a shadow and move on. He's sitting on a chair in an empty room with his head in his hands, his camera sitting at his feet.

"Nick," I spoke, but he doesn't seem to hear me.

"Nick!" I say louder, but he still doesn't move. In fact, he's so still that if he wasn't sitting upright, I'd wonder if he were alive.

 _I'm getting a bad feeling about this._

Before I can move, Nick's head comes up slowly and he looks directly at me. I glance behind me, but there's no light source behind me, and haven't made a noise for several minutes. In the night vision screen, Nick's eyes are wide and glowing green.

"Nick?"

He stands up suddenly and takes a step toward me, kicking his camera, then makes an intense predatory stare on his face.

"Nick?" I say again, but he doesn't respond.

I get the feeling it would be a bad idea to turn my back on Nick right now.

"Are you okay?" I ask him. "You look really weird."

Nick takes another step toward me, and I instinctively back up nearly against a wall. When I move, I hear a clink in my pocket and remember the St. Michael medal I got myself as protection against the dark side. I don't want to repeat that dark possession, but here it is again…a dark presence taking over someone I value so highly.

Now I wonder: should I try to use it on Nick, or should I go for help?

 _No, I can't leave. I must stand my ground and do the right thing, rescue my friend._

I carefully set down my camera and take the medal of St. Michael out of my pocket. I reveal it to Nick and, not completely sure what to do, flick it in Nick's direction. He flinches away and growls at me.

"St. Michael, the Archangel…" I recite the prayer as he growls in a stand off pose.

He scoffs and speaks in a legion of voices,

"You…your precious Nick isn't here anymore!"

Undeterred despite the overwhelming terror, I assertively say,

"Get out of his body, be gone!"

He grins mockingly,

"Your petty ritual won't work on me."

More confident, I lunge forward and shout,

"In the name of the loving almighty God, St. Michael the Archangel, cast out this unholy demon!"

Thudding my medal on Nick's chest, he lets out a raging, monstrous scream, sits down abruptly.

Going limp for a few minutes and taking some heavy, fatigued breaths, Nick shakes his head.

"What the hell?" he says in a fatigued voice.

A moment later, Aaron and Zak run up the steps.

"What's going on? We heard shouting." they ask.

I explained how I came upon Nick and used the blessed medal that my priest had given me. I explain what happened, and Nick says the last thing he remembers is feeling drawn to the room where I found him. Realizing we need time to regroup and replenish our strength, we all decide it's time for a break downstairs.

Everyone's a little shaken up, but after some delicious protein bars and an energy drink, I walk away to take a break of their boyish antics but Nick is following unbeknownst to me.

After a moment, I look up, and flinch when I see him standing in the doorway.

"It's just me," he says.

"Man, you scared me," putting a hand to my chest.

He apologizes, and then walks into the room. Nick looks unhappy.

"Is everything OK?" I ask.

He shrugs, and then admits that he had an argument with his wife before he left, and he feels bad about it. Guessing that emotional letdown left him vulnerable and something tried to attach itself to him.

I talked to Nick for a few minutes until he seems to be feeling better, he also apologies for what just happened upstairs and thanks me for my courage, we exchange a fist bump, friends for life.

The guys are ready to keep investigating. Zak announces that, since this location has a history of spirits that attack the living, he's going to try some provocation.

"It could get crazy in here," he warns me. "Do you want to stick around, or hang with Billy and Jay?"

I came a long way to be part of this lockdown, and I'm not leaving now.


	10. Lockdown Part 4

Together, the guys and I head upstairs to the second floor. I watch through my night vision screen as the guys spread out over the landing. Zak and Nick start taunting the ghosts, and even Aaron joins in.

Remembering the pinch I felt when we entered the house, I decide not to draw attention to myself again. I stay close to Aaron, who's hanging back from Nick and Zak. After a few minutes, I feel cold.

"Man, I just got hit with something," Aaron says. "I'm getting chills all over my body, guys!"

"Me, too," I chime in. A loud growl comes from behind me and we both turn around as fast as we can.

"What was that?" I said.

"You heard it too?" Aaron says. "It sounded like some kind of growl!"

"Go check it out, guys!" Nick yells, we look at each other. I hang back as Aaron sticks his head into the room. I have zero interest in becoming ghost kibble right now.

"Whoever just made that growl, can you show yourself?" Aaron says. After a pause, he mutters, "I'm getting a really bad feeling, man."

I get the feeling that someone is sneaking up on me and turn quickly to check behind me.

"Geez," Aaron says. I look at him and he's shifting uncomfortably. "I'm getting this, like, weird tingling feeling in my left hand," he says.

I step into the room, curious and worried. "Here, take my camera for a sec," Aaron says, and I shift to get a good grip on it while keeping my camera pointed at Aaron. He rolls up his sleeve, and then digs a flashlight out of his pocket.

"Whoa, dude—does that look like what I think it looks like?" A reddish crescent has appeared on Aaron's arm.

"Turn your arm over," I tell him, and find a matching reddish mark on the underside of his arm.

"Dude," I whisper. "You got bit by the ghost dog!"

I might not want to tempt fate by taunting ghosts, but I really don't want to tempt fate by acting as if I'm scared—even if I am. Aaron follows as I sweep my camera in front of me, checking the night vision screen for ghost dogs or worse. The room seems to be empty; I decide to leave, but as I'm turning, I feel a hard shove that sends me face-first into the wall.

"What the hell?" I yelp, slamming my camera and grabbing my nose. The guys quickly sprint over to my aid.

"What's wrong?" Zak yells as Nick puts his hand on my shoulder.

"I think I just got shoved," I say, more astonished than scared. Nick turns on a flashlight to check my nose, but it isn't broken, just sore.

"You think it's fun to pick on the living?" I say. "You think it's fun to scare people? Well, I'm not scared! Show yourselves, you cowards!"

Normally, I never provoke the spirits like that. But I'm not going to let anybody make me a victim again. The guys hold still, listening for any responses. But no further responses came through.

The rest of the night isn't quite as exciting either—while we hear a few more odd noises and catch something on our voice recorders, the activity in the house seems to have mostly quieted down after 3am.


	11. Until Dawn

As the sky outside lightens, I help the crew pack up their gear and recount our most terrifying moments. I privately pride myself on having mostly kept my composure—although I can't deny that I feel a surge of relief as we hear the keys click in the lock of the front door. As we ride back to the hotel, surrounded by the sleepy Ghost Adventures Crew, I take a moment to appreciate the sunrise. I feel as though I've fought for the right to see it.

At the hotel, I exchange tired hugs with the crew before heading up to my room to sleep. As I fall asleep, to think that, as cool as this experience was, I probably will go ghost hunting again—it was way intense.

Though from what I experienced, maybe there is something in the Gorey House that likes to mess with the living. I can't say if it's demons as the locals feared, but there is dark entities in that old place, without question. I pass out in my bed within minutes of lying down, my energy was drained for working so hard but I wouldn't have it any other way.


	12. Back Home

The next day, I'm rested and ready to go home, but happy I got to experience some ghostly activity with the Ghost Adventures Crew. Now, the guys are lucky enough to fly back home. Zak and Aaron go to Vegas while Nick heads back to New England to his family. I have to drive all the way back to the Tri State area, but this time it's daytime. As I see the guys walk out of the hotel, I honk and wave goodbye as they follow suit.

The drive wasn't as bad this time, I munched on some trail mix and sip some cranberry juice. Every so often, I vlog the various East Coast landscapes on the highways, basking in the feel of the radiant sun. Rejuvenating every muscle in my body, working nights will do that to you. Finally, after a few hours I hear my GPS say:

 _"Welcome to New York"_

 _Aah, the Empire State._

I thought to myself as I pass the sign listing the various tourist attractions, but I call it home here. As I pull up to my apartment building, the diverse sounds of cars, people talking and smells of cooked food remind me that I'm home now.

As get inside my apartment and I'm unpacking your luggage, I find an old black-and-white photograph of a man and a woman tucked into my clothes. It looks familiar, but I can't remember where I've seen it, so I set it on my dresser. After I settle back home, my friends plague me with dozens of questions which legally I can't disclose too much information, but armed with tons of photos to show off to my friends.

I know the episode won't air for several months, but will let them know more as I can.

A week later, a giant box of Ghost Adventures swag appears in the mail, along with a note from Nick thanking me once again for my prompt action. The lockdown wasn't what I expected, but I knew that I could handle it. I'm proud that I was part of an investigation that uncovered such significant evidence for the existence of the paranormal. Framing the photo of the four of us outside the Gorey House, I place it beside my lamp and ready for a peaceful sleep.


	13. Epilogue

_Night comes once again; I walk through a short breezeway, which is lit by a half-moon, and into the garage. It looks more like an old barn than a garage; I pan my camera over the walls and see strange old tools whose purpose I can't imagine. The air is very dusty, I notice a strange smell in the air—it almost smells like sulfur. By sniffing, I determine that it's probably coming from the house. I'm about to return and check it out, when I see movement in the corner of my eye._

 _I turn my camera to the corner where I saw the movement and are astonished to see a woman who looks like the owner of the house._

 _"What are you doing here?" I ask. She looks around, and then crooks her finger at me. I move toward her, lowering my camera._

 _"Something terrible is about to happen," she says, but before I can ask what, she disappears._

 _Then a feeling of great calm comes over me._

 _I awaken in the attic, feeling stiff and see light coming through a small window that I didn't notice before. I get up to investigate the light and hear voices downstairs. The attic door opens and a surprised police officer appears. "We have a survivor!" he shouts, and leads me outside._

 _For the rest of the day, I explain that I went up to the garage at the beginning of the lockdown and you don't remember anything after that. The cops take my video recorder and won't tell me anything. It isn't until tomorrow that I find out that all of the Ghost Adventures Crew is dead except Nick, who was found covered in blood. I remember the stories of demonic possessions in the house and shiver._

 _When I get home, I realize that I still have my voice recorder. The digital memory is full. I have to work up my courage, but I listen, wondering if I'll hear the struggle that must have taken place below me. But the only sound I can make out on the tape is a ghostly voice that seems to say "You're safe." For the rest of my life, you feel like spirits are watching out for me when I'm in danger—maybe even the ghosts of Zak and Aaron._

 _Then a familiar voice,_

 _"…your precious Nick isn't here anymore!"_

As I laid there in cold sweats, someone whispers my name. I blink awake and sit up in my bed, looking around. No one's there. I start to lie back down, dismissing the sound as a trick of my ears, when I notice that the shadows at the foot of my bed don't look right. A chill goes through my body as I see the shadows taking human shape.

A few weeks later, Zak, Nick and Aaron all experienced horrific nightmares rivaling anything they ever experienced from Bobby Mackey's. And so did anyone who saw the footage at the network company. For public safety, we tried pull the episode from the air. But after some backlash we received from other executives, feeling cheated out of their wasted money to produce the episode…we had no choice but to let it air.

A deep gut feeling tells me that we survived this once at the Gorey House, but…

It wasn't over yet…


End file.
